After a lengthy existence away from the spotlight, Indian umpires seem to be getting their due. Following the Indian board’s announcement that every delivery in senior tournaments would be video-recorded to maintain an umpires’ log for appraisal purposes, a six-day training camp for 105 Indian umpires – overseen by Simon Taufel – is under way at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.This is part of a three-year deal with Cricket Australia (CA) for training and development of umpires, which might be a direct consequence of the visit of Srinivas Venkataraghavan[director of umpiring, India] to Australia.Divided into three batches of 35, the best umpires in India will spend two days each with Taufel. “I think the BCCI has realised umpiring is one area of their cricket that is neglected and has approached Cricket Australia”, Taufel said at the end of the second day.”We [Taufel and Ross Turner, CA’s global development manager] have been invited to help the umpires get better in some departments and in becoming more professional. So we are trying to establish a core foundation of umpiring skills. Our first priority is to find out if they are up to it in terms of skill levels. The first step is to help the umpires identify their strengths and weaknesses and to work on it.”It gets pretty complex from there. “We have done some theoretical exercises, we have given them some practical work, and we have also given them an exam on laws. We have talked to them about match-management, communication, and teamwork. We have also had some practical nets sessions and looked at umpiring techniques as well. Through that process the umpires have got a very good understanding of their skills, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and know where they need to work on now. If we can come back and work on them, we can work on more areas,” he said.Taufel agreed that two days per batch was clearly not enough. For the record, since Venkatraghavan retired from umpiring in January 2004, Indian umpires’ participation in Tests has been limited to four Tests out of 160. The board has also been asked by the ICC to work towards improving the umpiring standards.”Continuing this process is up to the BCCI to decide, but this is a good beginning,” said Taufel. As MP Pandove, joint secretary of BCCI and the man responsible for allotment of matches to umpires said at the inauguration of the seminar, “The learning begins now.”

Scorecard

Led by a satisfying performance in the field, especially by their spinners, Pakistan ended up as comfortable winners against Kenya in the final match of the Quadrangular Tournament in Nairobi. Chasing a paltry 93, victory was achieved with the loss of only two wickets with Shoaib Malik, opening the innings with Mohammad Hafeez, scoring an aggressive 42 and Misbah-ul-Haq finishing things off with a well-paced 31.Fawad Alam, the left-arm debutant, was the other not-out batsman as Pakistan romped home with six overs to spare.Earlier, Kenya, who won the toss and batted, got off to a poor start when Shoaib Akhtar grabbed two early wickets; David Obuya caught at second slip by Misbah and Jimmy Kamande’s mistimed pull taken by Salman Butt at mid-on.Tanmay Mishra struck two fours off Akhtar but was deceived by a quicker ball to be trapped in front by Alam. Kenya slid to 43 for 5 after Abdur Rehman, also a left-arm spinner, claimed two wickets in quick succession; Thomas Odoyo was stumped by Kamran Akmal and Tony Suji was bowled sweeping.Alam and Rehman did not concede a boundary, and Malik, exploiting the effectiveness of the spinners, brought on Younis Khan and Hafeez; both of whom picked up wickets in their first over. Alex Obanda was stumped while Collins Obuya, Kenya’s highest scorer with 17, was bowled by Hafeez.Rajesh Bhudia struck Hafeez over the long-on boundary, but Lameck Onyango was stumped off the same bowler. With his third stumping, Akmal had now broken the Twenty20 record for the most stumpings in an innings.Younis then claimed his second wicket when Budhia missed a slog. Peter Ongondo hit a six over long-on, but was caught at long-off by Rehman while attempting another big stroke as Younis finished with career-best figures of 3 for 18.Pakistan, together with Kenya and Bangladesh, now head to South Africa for a few warm-up matches before the start of the ICC World Twenty20 on September 11.

Queensland will be looking out for potential new leaders this season after Jimmy Maher announced he would quit the captaincy at the end of 2007-08. However, Maher has no immediate plans to retire from first-class cricket and wants to play for the Bulls for at least another three seasons.Maher, 33, wants to help the new captain ease into the role in the same way he was assisted by his predecessor Stuart Law, and Law was helped by Allan Border. “AB played on for two more years after Law took over and was a great help to him and then Stu did the same for me when I took over, so hopefully I can help out whoever does the job and we get things on the right track,” Maher said.He said by making the decision public he hoped to avoid speculation about his future and allow the side to focus on the 2007-08 season. Maher took over the captaincy at the end of 2001-02, guiding the Bulls to a Pura Cup title in 2005-06 and a Ford Ranger Cup triumph last season. In each of those victories he led from the front with Man-of-the-Match performances.Only Stuart Law (63) and Greg Chappell (45) have led Queensland in more Pura Cup matches than Maher’s 43, which have brought 21 wins. He has also captained the Bulls 48 times in one-day games – more than any other Queensland leader – for 28 victories.

Steve Harmison, the England fast bowler, is in the process of signing to play domestic cricket in South Africa with the Lions in an attempt to find match fitness ahead of England’s tour of Sri Lanka next month. Team-mate Liam Plunkett, currently out of the national set-up, has also agreed to join the Dolphins on a four-month deal.Harmison hasn’t played for England since the final Test against West Indies, at Chester-le-Street, in June. During the series he picked up a hernia and despite trying to play through the injury it required surgery which ruled him out of the India Test series. Three matches into his domestic comeback for Durham he was struck down with a back injury which ruled him out of the final month of the season.Despite patchy form for England he was handed a central contract, but it would be a gamble for the selectors to choose him for a demanding tour of Sri Lanka with such little competitive action behind him.”The ECB are in the process of finalising the details for Steve,” an ECB spokesman told Cricinfo. “The idea is for him to play two first-class matches for Highveld Lions in November as a part of his rehabilitation process.”The ECB added that Harmison, who has been working on his fitness with Kevin Shine at the National Academy in Loughborough, would be accompanied on the trip by England’s new bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, who is also a county colleague at Durham. A formal announcement is expected within the next 48 hours.Durham have strong South African connections through their captain Dale Benkenstein, who plays for the Dolphins. He recommended Plunkett to the franchise and Cassim Docrat, the chief executive, said: “We have signed Plunkett for four months.”Cricket South Africa cleared both overseas signings on Tuesday. Although not as prevalent as overseas players in county cricket, the South African first-class game has included English cricketers in the past, notably Matthew Hoggard who developed his game while playing for Free State.

Pakistan’s Shoaib Mailk, Mohammad Asif and Younis Khan, and New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum are the latest international players to join the Indian Premier League (IPL), according to Lailt Modi, the IPL chairman and vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.”Malik, Younis, Asif and McCullum signed up with the IPL, taking the number of international cricketers to 29,” Modi said. The announcement comes two days after Shoaib Akhtar, Shaun Pollock and New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram had joined the IPL.”We are close to signing up more players in a week’s time for the IPL which will start around April 16, after the completion of South Africa’s visit to India (for a three-Test series),” Modi said.Modi elaborated on the format of the IPL. “Two matches will be held per day, at 5 and 8pm, at different centres. The eight franchisee teams will have the option of playing with four foreign players on the ground but can sign up more if they want.”He also brushed off criticism from New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association (NZCPA) chief, Heath Mills, who termed the IPL contracts “the worst contracts I’ve seen in professional sport”.”The New Zealand players who have signed the contracts have no issue with us,” Modi said. “If they [NZCPA] have an issue, they have to sort it out with the players concerned.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

It was fitting that Shoaib Akhtar caused one final dent in India’s run down the home stretch but it was equally apt that VVS Laxman was at the crease when the winning runs were knocked off and India took a 1-0 lead in this three-Test series. Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on a half-century and India chased down a target they had never managed before at the Feroz Shah Kotla with six wickets to spare.When Akhtar bounced Sourav Ganguly and the ball got big on the pull shot, resulting in a swirling top-edge to fine leg, Pakistan supporters would have got a whiff of the unlikely. A wicket had fallen, Ganguly on 48, with 22 still needed for victory. But there would be no more heroics as Tendulkar took the lead and knocked off the required runs with a minimum of fuss.In some ways it was ironic that Laxman was at crease when victory was sealed, for the lead-up to this Test match was full of questions over what the composition of the Indian team, especially the middle order, should be. Amid overwhelming calls to include the in-form Yuvraj Singh, Laxman came under pressure for his spot, as he often does. But he delivered in the first innings with a classy unbeaten 72, when it mattered the most, setting up an India win.Equally, it was fitting that Anil Kumble, who picked up seven wickets in his first match as captain, walked away with the Man-of-the-Match award. When he was named Test captain, ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who already had the job for the one-dayers, there was some concern about the Indian selectors looking back rather than forward. But Kumble proved that captaincy would rest lightly on his broad shoulders and did not let it affect his performance.Pakistan, meanwhile, have a Test full of missed opportunities to look back at before the second Test begins in Kolkata on November 30. At crucial points in the match they failed to drive their advantage home, and paid the price. The bowling attack, when the chips were down, lacked penetration, barring Shoaib, who bowled with customary pace and hostility. The absence of Mohammad Asif definitely hurt Pakistan, for even chasing 203 on a less-than-perfect batting strip would have been a task had he been around.”This ground has been very special, everything has happened on this ground,” Kumble said soon after receiving the Man-of-the-Match award. “I think the boys responded really well and getting Pakistan out under 250 in both innings was creditable. The partnerships between Laxman and Dhoni, [Rahul] Dravid and [Wasim] Jaffer and Sachin and Ganguly were all very crucial.”Kumble also conceded that his own performance was crucial. “It was excellent to get into the [bowling] groove right away. Three months is a long break at my age and I’m very happy with my performance.” The last time he played a Test, against England at The Oval, Kumble was the sentimental choice for the match award, having just scored his only Test hundred in a series where no Indian batsman reached three figures. This time around there was no sentiment involved, just cold performance by India’s newest captain. And that’s the way he would like it.

Adeel Raja, the Netherlands’ offspinner, has been banned for two years after failing a random drugs test during a domestic match in September.Raja, who has played six ODIs and nine first-class games for Netherlands and was in their World Cup squad earlier this year, tested positive for finasteride, a substance banned as it can be used as a masking agent.Although it is unclear why the player used the substance, finasteride can be used innocently to combat hair loss.The Dutch board decided to suspend the second year of the ban for a further two years, meaning that he will miss the entire 2008 season. Cricket Europe reported that Raja had previously successfully applied for dispensation to use the drug but that he had not renewed the application.Raja, 27, is believed to be lodging an appeal against the ban.

Gatorade Pacers’ Bangalore edition was successfully held at the National Cricket Academy ground, with two people chosen each in the Under-15 and Under-19 categories. The winners, who were among a field of more than 1300, will participate in the all-India final to be held in Delhi from January 21.The 2008 contest is the second edition of the talent hunt held in partnership with MRF Pace Academy and Cricinfo. The winners will join a training schedule at the prestigious MRF Pace Academy under Dennis Lillee and T A Sekhar, the Academy’s head coach.Unlike other similar hunts for fast bowlers, Gatorade Pacers is not purely based on speed alone but also the overall bowling prowess. R Vinay Kumar and NC Aiyappa – the new-ball bowlers for Karnataka – were the judges and they evaluated the boys over two days.In the final round, the bowlers were made to bowl at specific target areas. There were two boxes that were chalk-marked to indicate good length and short of a length. Additionally, the bowlers were also asked to bowl a yorker.In the U-22 category, David Mathias, who clocked a high speed of 118 kph, and Magiyhendan, who had clocked 122 kph on the first day, were chosen; R Prabhakar, with a highest speed of 108 kph, and Rehan Ali, with a high of 107 kph, were selected in the U-15 category. However, the criterion was not pure pace as the judges looked to select the most complete bowlers.

In a setback to India’s chances in the final Test in Adelaide, RP Singh, the left-arm seamer, has been rendered out of action for at least two weeks. RP picked up a hamstring injury but the good news is that it is a grade 1 injury, which is the lowest possible hamstring tear. RP suffered the problem on the second evening, bowling the seventh over of the innings.RP Singh, India’s second-highest wicket-taker in this series with 13 victims in seven innings, had walked off the field on the second evening. He underwent a scan later in the evening and it was confirmed on the third morning that he wouldn’t take part in the day’s play, leaving India with four specialist bowlers. It left India relying on Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly bowling 12 overs between them.MV Sridhar, India’s assistant manager, later revealed the extent of the injury. “He will undergo a rehabilitation program, which will be monitored by John Gloster, the physio. He is under constant supervision. We will reassess his situation after two weeks.”Sehwag admitted that the side would miss RP Singh’s incisive bowling, given that they were pushing for a victory to square the series. “It helps to have five bowlers because the fast bowlers were tiring,” he said on India’s decision to play five bowlers for the first time since the Mirpur Test against Bangladesh in May 2007. “When the match started we went with five bowlers and it’s unlucky that RP is injured now. But we still have four bowlers and myself, Sachin and Sourav can contribute a bit.”India’s most-improved bowler in the last year, RP Singh played a big part in Sydney and Perth. He rattled Australia’s top order on the first day in Sydney before claiming six wickets in the memorable win in Perth. He has led the attack manfully, combining well with Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma, and managed to swing the ball in both directions.It’s also a blow for India’s chances in the forthcoming CB Series one-day tournament. He is surely out of the Twenty20 international against Australia and will mostly be out of the first three matches of the tri-series, starting on February 3. The earliest he will be expected to return is on February 14, when India take on Sri Lanka in Canberra.

Ray Jennings, the coach of the South Africa Under-19 team, acknowledges the need to develop the underprivileged segments in South Africa but feels the issue requires flexibility because “you are also looking to win”. However he was clear that any player picked for South Africa, regardless of race, is good enough to play international cricket.”I’m sad that coloured players in the team could have the stigma attached, where they feel they are underprivileged when that’s not the case,” Jennings told Cricinfo while preparing his side for the U-19 World Cup. “It’s not about having a 50-50 or 60-40 split between white and coloured players. In our country, the sides are picked on their cricketing ability because the players of colour are good enough to play.”Jennings’ comments come in the wake of the spat between the senior team coach, Mickey Arthur, and board president Norman Arendse over the selection of South Africa’s squad to Bangladesh. “Before people criticise any player representing the country, especially at the Under-19 level, they should come to the ground, take a look, and judge for themselves,” said Jennings, a former coach of the national side.The 15-member squad chosen for the World Cup contains a mix of both white and coloured players, including Jonathan Vandiar who is of Indian origin. “The players of colour are good enough to represent the country,” Jennings said. “I haven’t been given a transformation policy as coach of the U-19s. To me, the policy is if the player is good enough to play. And there are enough players of colour who are good enough to play.”Moving on to the tournament itself Jennings said the South African squad was stronger than the one that took part in the previous edition in Sri Lanka in 2006, a side selected without the players being properly assessed. “While picking the 2006 side, we had a four-day tournament before we arrived for the World Cup,” he said of the side led by Dan Elgar, which reached only as far as the semi-finals of the League. “From a cricketing point of view, the top players in the world can have four noughts in a row.”This year I’ve tried to have five or six camps, and we’ve had a tour and a three-day competition. The guys have played enough cricket for me to know their mental toughness, their skills and how they perform in each position. I would anticipate probably a 50% better result in this World Cup compared to the last.”South Africa’s preparations began on a positive note with a seven-wicket win against Namibia in a warm-up match on Tuesday. Wayne Parnell, their captain, said that even though they chased the target of 106 in 19 overs, they continued batting (as if the game was still on) and set themselves goals of 185 in 30 overs and 300 plus after 50. They achieved both.Their competition will get tougher, though. They play Sri Lanka in the next warm-up and are pooled with Papua New Guinea, West Indies and India in what is arguably the tightest group. South Africa played India recently at home but lost the youth Test series 0-1 and didn’t make the final of a limited-overs tri-series which involved Bangladesh too. Their first match is against West Indies on February 18 at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur.